The Ministry of Education and IBM yesterday signed a long-term agreement to improve research capabilities in institutions of higher learning, and elsewhere, through proper use of modern technology.

The initiative which aims at increasing research capacity and ICT skills in schools will initially last two years, but will later be extended, according to the agreement between the ministry and officials from IBM Middle East and Africa.

IBM is a multinational corporation manufacturing computer hardware and software and offers infrastructure as well as consultancy services to various laboratories worldwide.

It also provides support in creating programmes in the high education curriculum.

"ICT is a phenomenon that keeps changing. So IBM will help us equip teachers with modern technologies and teachers will in turn use the skills to improve the quality of education,” said Prof. Silas Lwakabamba, the Education minister.

He added that the training will cover different areas and will involve assessing and certification of beneficiaries.

The training sessions will start with students and faculty members of the University of Rwanda (UR) who will be trained in modern technologies like cloud computing and cyber security to combat hacking that could compromise the national economy and security.

The training will also cover information management, mobile technological capacities and big data computing, which officials said will be critical in the country’s quest to become a knowledge-based economy.

It will also close gaps that have been prevalent in the education system, according to the minister.

Looking at the curricula in universities or secondary schools, he said, some of them are outdated and part of the agreement is for IBM to update them.

According to Lwakabamba, UR is at the final stages of establishing the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), a move that could be supported by the IBM project.

The centre, which will be based at the College of Science and Technology, was approved by the Cabinet in October 2013 and will help promote capacity building in many areas of science like climate change, telecommunication and high performance computing.

The centre will also ensure collaboration with numerous laboratories in other countries such as Italy and will offer PhD, Masters and fellowship programmes, among others.

According to Dr Naguib Attia, the IBM Chief Technology Officer for Middle East and Africa, the partnership will fix the existing gaps between what is taught in universities and the job market.

"Teachers’ capacities will significantly improve and this will be reflected on the quality of graduates they will send to the labour market,” Naguib said.

He said that if the country’s aspiration of being a knowledge-based economy was to be achieved, there was need for people to keep abreast with modern technologies.

Meanwhile, the minister also revealed that the partnership would also boost research on natural resources exploitation in Rwanda.

"There is a lot of exploration going on for the various natural resources the country possesses, like methane gas in Lake Kivu. But we have not carried out enough research in such areas…IMB has agreed to work with our university researchers to bolder this kind of research,” he added.editorial@newtimes.co.rw